José Otero Dr. Michael T. Williamson ENGL 864 11 June 2014 Inheritances There are multiple “inheritances” in Corinne. Of course, there are the traditional notions of inheritance where money is transferred from a dying person to his or her sons and daughters. The most noticeable of this type is the inheritance for Corinne. The death of an uncle leads Corinne’s stepmother to arrange to recognize Corinne again in some ways. Of course, the care Lady Edgermond takes to make sure she does the legally and morally correct thing only serves to highlight the lack of connection she feels for Corinne. Since there is no shared blood between them, Lady Edgermond doesn’t feel any true connection to Corinne or any need to transfer anything from herself personally to her. The importance of blood in regard to inheritance is important here. But the more interesting types of inheritances involve knowledge and identity. The most striking occur at the end of the novel where Corrine educates Lucile. Here, Juliet inherits the poetic and linguistic skills of Corrine. In one sense, Corrine is providing her with an education on how to sing and write. But she is also transferring style and substance to Juliet. She teaches her how to be an expressive human being, which runs directly counter to the type of inheritance Juliet would have gotten from her mother via her grandmother. That inheritance would have led to Juliet being silenced. The fact that Juliet looks like Corinne heightens this connection/transference of expressiveness. But even more interesting to me is the inheritance that Lucile receives from her sister. Like her daughter, Lucile receives and education from Corinne, but this education is centered upon how to deal with Lord Nelvil. Corinne suggests that Lucile take on some of her characteristics. On its face, this seems like an odd situation with one sister telling the other to be other than herself. However, this transference is more symbolic and powerful than that. It suggests to the reader that women can break these societal norms. They can become more like Corinne while still having the qualities that Lucile possesses. For this to happen, Corinne does need to die. The very definition of inheritance, of evolution, requires this death. So while Corinne’s death is tragic, it allows for this transference to occur. Lucile will be the first of a new type of English woman who can have both her own sense of identity and the love of a male partner. Lastly, is the inheritance of men. Here, there is little or no progress, at least from de Staël’s perspective. Men are essentially selfish creatures who do not consider the feelings of others. But de Staël does not blame this on some inherent defect that men are born with. As she writes, “Society persuades [men] that to fill a heart with happiness and then to put despair in its place is a game” (403). De Staël critiques society and the socialization of men with this statement. And the last sentence of the novel reinforces this idea. She asks a series of questions about how Lord Nelvil may feel about what occurred, and she states that “I do not know, and, on that matter, I want neither to blame nor to absolve him” (404). For me, there seems to be a recognition that people bear personal responsibility for their actions, but it cannot be denied that people are socialized to behave in certain ways as well. In other words, Lord Nelvil was provided a limited set of tools with which to deal with the situations in the novel. Corinne was able to develop new tools to use in the world, but she could not use those new tools with the old. She had to choose between old practices and newly adopted ones. This is why the inheritance Lucile receives is so important. Lucile learns how to combine both sets of tools, which will lead to greater happiness. So while I am frustrated by Corinne’s emotional fall throughout the novel, that frustration is necessary to see the problems in society. As the reader, I should feel bad that Corinne cannot be both independent and have a fulfilling intimate relationship. But at the end of the novel, Corinne teaches Lucile how to do both. Is it a perfect or ideal inheritance that she receives? Probably not. But it does move the conversation forward.
Dr. Michael T. Williamson
ENGL 864
11 June 2014
Inheritances
There are multiple “inheritances” in Corinne. Of course, there are the traditional notions of inheritance where money is transferred from a dying person to his or her sons and daughters. The most noticeable of this type is the inheritance for Corinne. The death of an uncle leads Corinne’s stepmother to arrange to recognize Corinne again in some ways. Of course, the care Lady Edgermond takes to make sure she does the legally and morally correct thing only serves to highlight the lack of connection she feels for Corinne. Since there is no shared blood between them, Lady Edgermond doesn’t feel any true connection to Corinne or any need to transfer anything from herself personally to her. The importance of blood in regard to inheritance is important here.
But the more interesting types of inheritances involve knowledge and identity. The most striking occur at the end of the novel where Corrine educates Lucile. Here, Juliet inherits the poetic and linguistic skills of Corrine. In one sense, Corrine is providing her with an education on how to sing and write. But she is also transferring style and substance to Juliet. She teaches her how to be an expressive human being, which runs directly counter to the type of inheritance Juliet would have gotten from her mother via her grandmother. That inheritance would have led to Juliet being silenced. The fact that Juliet looks like Corinne heightens this connection/transference of expressiveness.
But even more interesting to me is the inheritance that Lucile receives from her sister. Like her daughter, Lucile receives and education from Corinne, but this education is centered upon how to deal with Lord Nelvil. Corinne suggests that Lucile take on some of her characteristics. On its face, this seems like an odd situation with one sister telling the other to be other than herself. However, this transference is more symbolic and powerful than that. It suggests to the reader that women can break these societal norms. They can become more like Corinne while still having the qualities that Lucile possesses. For this to happen, Corinne does need to die. The very definition of inheritance, of evolution, requires this death. So while Corinne’s death is tragic, it allows for this transference to occur. Lucile will be the first of a new type of English woman who can have both her own sense of identity and the love of a male partner.
Lastly, is the inheritance of men. Here, there is little or no progress, at least from de Staël’s perspective. Men are essentially selfish creatures who do not consider the feelings of others. But de Staël does not blame this on some inherent defect that men are born with. As she writes, “Society persuades [men] that to fill a heart with happiness and then to put despair in its place is a game” (403). De Staël critiques society and the socialization of men with this statement. And the last sentence of the novel reinforces this idea. She asks a series of questions about how Lord Nelvil may feel about what occurred, and she states that “I do not know, and, on that matter, I want neither to blame nor to absolve him” (404). For me, there seems to be a recognition that people bear personal responsibility for their actions, but it cannot be denied that people are socialized to behave in certain ways as well. In other words, Lord Nelvil was provided a limited set of tools with which to deal with the situations in the novel. Corinne was able to develop new tools to use in the world, but she could not use those new tools with the old. She had to choose between old practices and newly adopted ones. This is why the inheritance Lucile receives is so important. Lucile learns how to combine both sets of tools, which will lead to greater happiness.
So while I am frustrated by Corinne’s emotional fall throughout the novel, that frustration is necessary to see the problems in society. As the reader, I should feel bad that Corinne cannot be both independent and have a fulfilling intimate relationship. But at the end of the novel, Corinne teaches Lucile how to do both. Is it a perfect or ideal inheritance that she receives? Probably not. But it does move the conversation forward.